A a

• Abandoned order - a WebCommerce transaction that is not completed for one reason or another. Typically a WebCommerce order is abandoned because the web shopper cannot figure out how to complete an order. Currently several sources agree that an alarming average of 2 out of 3 WebCommerce orders are abandoned.
  
  
• ACH (automatic check handling) - A form of electronic payment. Funds or payments can be transferred electronically in two ways: by wire transfer or through an automated clearinghouse. Wire transfer is an online, real-time payment system designed to handle large-dollar, time-critical payments, mostly between large banks. ACH, in contrast, is designed to be an “electronic check.” It is typically used to process high volumes of relatively small-dollar payments for settlement within one or two business days. ACH transactions are settled in a manner similar to the way checks are settled: The clearinghouse takes all ACH files received daily from its member banks, sorts them by the originating bank (the bank where the check was cashed or deposited) and the paying bank (the bank against which the check was drawn), totals the accounts, and credits or debits appropriate accounts accordingly.
  
  
• Acquiring Bank/Merchant Bank - The bank that does business with merchants who accept credit cards. A merchant has an account with this bank and each day deposits the value of the day's credit card sales. Acquirers buy (acquire) the merchant's sales slips and credit the tickets' value to the merchant's account.
  
  
• Acquiring Processor - The Acquiring processor provides credit card processing, billing, reporting and settlement and operational services to acquiring and issuing banks. Acquiring processors are also known as payment gateways. Many financial institutions don't do their own bank card processing because it's more cost-effective to let someone like AuthNet invest in the equipment and people and do it for them.
  
  
• AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) - Instant messaging (sometimes called IM or IMing) is the ability to easily see whether a chosen friend or co-worker is connected to the Internet and, if they are, to exchange messages with them. Instant messaging differs from ordinary e-mail in the immediacy of the message exchange and also makes a continued exchange simpler than sending e-mail back and forth. Most exchanges are text-only. However, some services allow attachments.

  AOL first popularized instant messaging and, with its large membership, is likely to be the most popular service for some time to come. AOL's Instant Messenger can be used by AOL members but there is no requirement to be connected to the Internet through AOL. An open source alternative to AOL's instant messaging is called Jabber.
  
  

• All Products page - The All Products page in RealCart is the complete list of all of the products in your store. This department cannot be deleted but it can be renamed. Removing a product from this department removes it from your store completely and irreversibly.
  
  
• Animated GIF (graphic interchange file) - An animated GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) file is a graphic image on a Web page that moves - for example, a twirling icon or a banner with a hand that waves or letters that magically get larger. In particular, an animated GIF is a file in the Graphics Interchange Format specified as GIF89a that contains within the single file a set of images that are presented in a specified order. An animated GIF can loop endlessly (and it appears as though your document never finishes arriving) or it can present one or a few sequences and then stop the animation. Animated GIFs are frequently used in Web ad banners. See also, GIF and interlaced GIF.
  
  
• API (application program interface) - The specific method prescribed by a computer operating system, or by another application program, by which a programmer writing an application program can make requests of the operating system or another application. Unlike a GUI (graphical user interface), which is a direct user interface, the API interfaces with an operating system or a program.
  
  
• ASP (active server page): - An HTML page that includes one or more scripts, or small embedded programs, that are processed on a Microsoft Web server (Internet Information Server) before the page is sent to the user. Typically, the script in the Web page (at the server level) uses input from a user's request to access data from a database and then builds or customizes the page before sending it to the requester.
  
  
• @local.html - This is the page in RealCart that displays your shopping cart locally when using the RealCart program on your PC. This page does not have any search engine features and SHOULD NOT be uploaded to your site.
  
  
• Authentication - Identification of individuals and businesses through the use of digital certificates.
  
  
• Authorization - The act of insuring that the cardholder has adequate funds available against their line of credit. A positive authorization results in an authorization code being generated, and those funds being set aside. The cardholder's available credit limit is reduced by the authorized amount.
  
  
• Authorize.Net - Authorize.Net is a payment gateway that offers secure, scalable solutions that enable merchants to process unlimited transactions from anywhere in the world in multiple currencies. Our solutions support any business model -- Internet, broadband, wireless, call center and retail -- and come with free technical support. Authorize.Net is compatible with RealCart. For a complete AuthNet FAQ, rates and a no obligation application please visit the Merchant Account center at RealCart.com. RealCart.com is an Authorize.Net reseller. Being very skeptical when it comes to payment gateways RealCart.com used AuthNet for four years before they were impressed enough to become a reseller. If you have any questions about getting a merchant account please let us know.
  
  
• AuthoTrans - AuthoTrans is a payment gateway. It is an Authorize.Net emulator and works with RealCart’s standard authorize.net payment form templates. AuthoTrans is compatible with RealCart.
  
  
• AVS (address verification system) - In 1996, VISA/MasterCard headquarters introduced a new regulation requiring all businesses who manually key in the majority of their credit card transactions to have a special fraud prevention feature on their credit card processing equipment. This feature is referred to as an address verification system (it checks to see that the billing address given by the customer matches the credit card). If you opt not to use AVS, VISA and MasterCard will not support your transactions and will charge you an additional 1.25% on those sales.